Efforts pay off for S'pore's first migrant workers' dragon boat team

Between cooking and cleaning, domestic helper Surti would squeeze in sets of squats and 1km runs around her employer’s Housing Board block in Bukit Panjang.

- Christine Tan

And on her rest day on Sunday, the Indonesian, who goes by one name, would travel over an hour by train or bus to Bedok Reservoir, for a gruelling three-hour dragon boat training session.

All her efforts over two months paid off on July 27, when she joined Singapore’s first migrant workers’ dragon boat team in their debut competition at a local sports festival, Pesta Sukan 2024, at the Water Sports Centre in Kallang.

Ms Surti, 37, who has been working here for 14 years, said: “I felt butterflies in my tummy. It was my very first time (joining a competition), I wanted to do my best for the team.”

Named Transient Paddlers Count Too, the team have five female domestic helpers from Indonesia, and six male migrant workers from India.

They were among 17 teams competing in the Singapore International Community Mixed Category and were up against experienced rivals such as the British Dragons.

Though they did not reach the finals, their Singaporean coach Faris told The Straits Times that their maiden run was a triumph.

He proudly recalled how they shaved off two seconds in their second row compared with the first in the heats. The team emerged third among five contenders in the repechage round – where teams which failed in the heats fight for a spot in the final.